Xenon Conversion
Xenon Conversion
Xenon Bulbs: Separating Fact from Fiction
Xenon Bulbs have been around for several years, and for drivers who have used them the benefits are very clear. They are able to see further and more clearly into the darkness and react to potential hazards earlier. Unfortunately there are still many queries about the use, fitting and legality of these bulbs, so here is a simple guide to help you separate fact from fiction.
Xenon Bulbs Will Discolour Plastic Headlight Lenses
False. The glass section of a Xenon bulb has an Ultra Violet (UV) filter, this blocks any UV rays from damaging any plastic materials and means that they are completely safe to use even if your car has plastic lenses.
The Higher The Colour Temperature The Hotter The Bulb Becomes
False. You will often see xenon car bulbs labelled with a colour temperature, which is measured in Kelvin (K), for example a headlight bulb could be listed as 6000K or 8000K. These colour temperatures bear no relation to the heat that a xenon bulb emits, in fact the Kelvin rating is used to describe which type of coloured light the headlight bulb would emit. For example, a 6000K xenon bulb emits a pure white light whilst a 8000K has a blue tint to it. The temperature at which a xenon bulb operates at is stable throughout all of the colour temperatures, so you can buy which ever colour you like without worrying about melting your headlights.
The Higher The Colour Temperature The Brighter The Light
False. When you look at a graph that shows the level of illumination that a xenon bulb gives when compared to its colour temperature you will see that the higher the colour temperature the less light the bulb actually emits. In fact the loss of light is not linear, so up to 6500K light that the bulbs emit is pretty much similar, however as you get higher, above 8500K, the light emitted starts to fall and then drops very dramatically. So if you are buying your xenon car bulbs for performance stick to the bulbs around the 6000K level, whilst if you are choosing your bulbs for colour styling remember that the higher up the colour spectrum you go the less light they will give out.
Xenon Bulbs Last Longer Than Normal Halogen Bulbs
True and False. Sorry to be vague on the answer to this one but it is because there are two types of xenon bulbs. The first type are called High Intensity Discharge (HID) bulbs, and they first appeared on prestige cars and are easy to spot, as they flicker slightly as they light up and produce a crisp and powerful light that often has a blue hue around them. You cannot install HID bulbs into a vehicle that is fitted with standard halogen headlights. The second type of xenon car bulbs are upgrade xenon bulbs, and these bulbs are direct replacements for halogen headlight bulbs and produce up to 90% more light than ordinary halogen. In terms of the life span normal halogen bulbs last around 350-400 hours, HID bulbs last around 3000 hours and upgrade xenon car bulbs last for 250-300 hours.
HID Xenon Kits Are Legal To Use On The Road
False. HID Xenon kits, also known as Xenon Conversion Kits, are a way of installing full HID xenon lights into a vehicle that only has ordinary halogen headlights fitted. Using a vehicle that has had a HID kit fitted on the public road is illegal, and the Department of Transport are very clear on this issue, stating that you are not permitted to convert an existing halogen headlight unit to one that use HID xenon bulbs. The only legal way to upgrade halogen headlights to HID xenon is to contact your vehicle's manufacturer and see if they are able to retro fit a complete HID system, including headlight units. However be aware that the cost of this installation is normally extremely high.
About the Author
Jo Alexander is an online, freelance journalist and keen windsurfer. Jo lives by the sea in Essex.
bi-xenon hid conversion kit?
does anyone know where i can buy a relatively cheap bi-xenon hid conversion kit from? i have been looking around and ive seen some for $100 or less but im not sure if they are good or not. im looking for 8000k and $100 or less for the bi-xenon. i have a 99 jeep cherokee by the way so that means im going to need to obtain a special bulb housing because i have oem sealed beam headlights. i would also like to know where to get some of those as well lol. anyone with experience in this field would be appreciated.
Well, HID kits in the stock reflector headlamps is pretty ill-advised. The beam pattern won't be very nice, and you'll have to aim your headlights low. So this is just a warning.
"Bi-xenon" meaning hi/low? I personally wouldn't get any hi/low kits, just get a normal hid kit. You can get an hid kit for cheap of HIDExtra.com, use the coupon "f-specialm" upon checkout though. Oh and on the topic of bulb temperatures, anything over 5000k is losing quite a bit of light output. So higher temperatures don't mean brighter bulb, it just means different color.
I understand you want brighter headlights, I too wanted hids, but the 1500 dollar factory xenons were very discouraging. Instead of just going hid kit, I felt I had to go all the way. What I did was join HIDplanet.com
And.. I mustered up the courage and hacked up my headlights. Installed special "projectors" from a rx330 lexus, and a 100 dollar hid kit. Total was like 600 bux. Awesome light output, but this route took lots of patience and there is the risk of destroying your headlights.
Anyways, if you just want an hid kit, go to HIDExtra.com.
Xenon Conversion
Install HID Xenon Headlight Conversion
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Auto Car DC 9-16V 35W H4-10000K Ballast HID Xenon High/Low Beam Bulb Conversion Kit $81.16 Auto Car DC 9-16V 35W H4-10000K Ballast HID Xenon High/Low Beam Bulb Conversion Kit. |
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Pyle PHDH7K12K Conversion Kit $46.86 12 000K SINGLE BEAM H7 HID XENON DRIVING LIGHT SYSTEM |
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BI-Xenon H4 6000K HID Projector Lens Light for Car (Silver) $166.23 Auto HID conversion kit works with digital control switch and Bi-xenon lamp holder. |
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Auto Car DC 9-16V 35W H1-3000K Ballast HID Xenon Conversion Kit $63.9 Used to upgrade your auto car headlights. Increases driving safety in bad weather. Two H1 HID Xenon light bulbs and two DC ballasts included. Bulb type: H1 HID Xenon. Color temperature: 3000K (golden light). |
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Auto Car DC 9-16V 35W H1-4200K Ballast HID Xenon Conversion Kit $63.9 Used to upgrade your auto car headlights. Increases driving safety in bad weather. Two H1 HID Xenon light bulbs and two DC ballasts included. Bulb type: H1 HID Xenon. Color temperature: 4200K (warm white). |
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Auto Car DC 9-16V 35W H1-5000K Ballast HID Xenon Conversion Kit $63.9 Used to upgrade your auto car headlights. Increases driving safety in bad weather. Two H1 HID Xenon light bulbs and two DC ballasts included. Bulb type: H1 HID Xenon. Color temperature: 5000K (white blend with yellow). |
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Auto Car DC 9-16V 35W H1-6000K Ballast HID Xenon Conversion Kit $63.9 Used to upgrade your auto car headlights. Increases driving safety in bad weather. Two H1 HID Xenon light bulbs and two DC ballasts included. Bulb type: H1 HID Xenon. Color temperature: 6000K (super white). |
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Auto Car DC 9-16V 35W H1-8000K Ballast HID Xenon Conversion Kit $63.9 Used to upgrade your auto car headlights. Increases driving safety in bad weather. Two H1 HID Xenon light bulbs and two DC ballasts included. Bulb type: H1 HID Xenon. Color temperature: 8000K (iceberg blue). |
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Auto Car DC 9-16V 35W H1-10000K Ballast HID Xenon Conversion Kit $63.9 Used to upgrade your auto car headlights. Increases driving safety in bad weather. Two H1 HID Xenon light bulbs and two DC ballasts included. Bulb type: H1 HID Xenon. Color temperature: 10000K (violet blue). |
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Auto Car AC 12V 35W H1-3000K Ballast HID Xenon Conversion Kit $72 Used to upgrade your auto car headlights. Increases driving safety in bad weather. Two H1 HID Xenon light bulbs and two ultra-slim AC ballasts included. Bulb type: H1 HID Xenon. Color temperature: 3000K (golden light). |
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Auto Car AC 12V 35W H1-4200K Ballast HID Xenon Conversion Kit $71.61 Used to upgrade your auto car headlights. Increases driving safety in bad weather. Two H1 HID Xenon light bulbs and two ultra-slim AC ballasts included. Bulb type: H1 HID Xenon. Color temperature: 4200K (warm white). |
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Auto Car AC 12V 35W H1-6000K Ballast HID Xenon Conversion Kit $71.61 Used to upgrade your auto car headlights. Increases driving safety in bad weather. Two H1 HID Xenon light bulbs and two ultra-slim AC ballasts included. Bulb type: H1 HID Xenon. Color temperature: 6000K (super white). |
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Auto Car AC 12V 35W H1-10000K Ballast HID Xenon Conversion Kit $71.61 Used to upgrade your auto car headlights. Increases driving safety in bad weather. Two H1 HID Xenon light bulbs and two ultra-slim AC ballasts included. Bulb type: H1 HID Xenon. Color temperature: 10000K (violet blue). |
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Auto Car AC 12V 35W H1-8000K Ballast HID Xenon Conversion Kit $71.61 Used to upgrade your auto car headlights. Increases driving safety in bad weather. Two H1 HID Xenon light bulbs and two ultra-slim AC ballasts included. Bulb type: H1 HID Xenon. Color temperature: 8000K (iceberg blue). |
Types of Hid Conversion Kits
Have you ever noticed one car with sleek headlights that are a very different color than the average halogen headlights that you are now so used to? Chances are that what you were looking at were HID headlights that are becoming more popular as each day passes. It is true that these tend to be more on the expensive side, but there are good reasons for it.
First of all they last longer, a lot longer than halogen bulbs which means a heck of a lot longer than the average household light bulb. Second of all they work better. People who get good quality HID conversion kits experience an average of about three times more light than what they got from the previous halogen headlights. In some cases up to five times more light is produced.
If you compare halogen and HID headlights one huge key difference will stick out at you immediately. Halogen headlights have filaments encased in quartz that is of course filled with halogen gases while HID headlights have tubes filled with different gases that react to create an arc that produces the light without the use of filaments.
As said before HID conversion kits use headlights that work by having an electric current course through gases that respond by creating an arc that gives you more light than you could ever get from the halogen headlights that you probably have in your car right now. Because it doesn’t use filaments, the way household Light Bulbs and halogen headlights do HID conversion kits last a lot longer than anything you use now. They can last as long as our car.
The reason other light bulbs burn out is because the filaments that allow electricity to flow through eventually wear down and snap ending the flow of the current. This happens rather quickly with household light bulbs because as the filaments begin to break down they deposit on the bulb. Halogen headlights last a lot longer than household light bulbs because the filaments are somewhat protected by a quartz tube that is filled with halogen gases the halogen gases allow the bits of the filament that are broken down to undergo a reaction allowing them to be deposited back onto the filament significantly improving the life of each filament. The HID lights last the longest because they don’t have filaments that break down over time.
Despite all of these wonderful improvements that come with the HID lights it would take a long time for them to heat enough for there to be visible light. However, thanks to xenon and their break through we are past this problem. Now there is xenon added to the gas mixture to help produce the light faster than you would have it otherwise.
Two decent HID conversion kits are the HID xenon conversion kit and the McCulloch conversion kit. The McCulloch conversion kit claims that it is easy enough for anybody at home to put in their car, but it is always better to find a mechanic willing to and get their opinions on the best HID conversion kits available.
About the Author
Buying the right HID Kits can seem confusing, but it doesn’t have to be! At www.shophidkits.com, we take the confusion out of buying McCulloch HID kits and help you find the lowest prices on the web!
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Mag-Lite ST3D016 3-D Cell LED Flashlight, Black $23.32 ... |
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Streamlight 88850 Polytac LED Flashlight with Lithium Batteries, Black $32.18 Compact and lightweight, the Streamlight PolyTac LED is a lithium-powered flashlight with a super-bright C4 LED that triples the brightness of a regular LED. Featuring a tail-cap switch for single-handed operation, and durable and waterproof materials for use in extreme conditions, the PolyTac LED Flashlight is ideal for daily use at home or work and for outdoor activities like camping and hunting... |
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Streamlight 74301 Strion LED Flashlight with AC/12-Volt DC and 1-Holder, Black $93.18 ATTRIBUTES Bulb: C4 LED Material: Aluminum Overall Length (inches): 5.90 Power Source: Rechargeable Special Features: Ultra Compact... |
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Therese $6.25 An ordinary girl with an extraordinary soul, 15-year-old Therese begs to join a convent after the loss of her mother and separation from her sister. The story of her brief life as a Carmelite nun continues to inspire Catholics, and this moving biographical film celebrates her miraculous spirituality. Lindsay Younce and Leonardo Defilippis (who also directs) star. AKA: "Therese: The Story of Saint ... |
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2 pcs HID Xenon bulb H1 6000K(brilliant white)(1 pair) replacement light bulbs By CBconcept $15.99 2 pcs HID Xenon bulb H1 6000K(brilliant white)(1 pair) replacement light bulbs... |
Xenon Conversion